1. Technical Field
The disclosed technology relates to electronic systems and, more particularly, to circuits configured to multiply currents.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Electronic systems can use current multipliers to multiply two or more currents in a variety of applications, such as in a power amplifier controller. Certain current multipliers can receive three input currents and generate an output current proportional to the product of two of the input currents divided by the other input current.
It can be desirable to have good linearity of the output current in the presence of variations in an electronic system. For instance, it can be desirable to have good linearity of the output current as one or more of the input currents vary, as temperature of the current multiplier varies, as supply voltage of the current multiplier varies, in the presence of process variations, or any combination thereof. In certain implementations, as one of the inputs to the current multiplier varies, temperature compensation can become more difficult, for example, due to two or more of these parameters working against each other.
In a power amplifier module that includes a power amplifier controller having a current multiplier, any of the variations described herein can cause gain variations, gain slope issues, impact other metrics by which power amplifier modules are rated, or any combination thereof. Accordingly, such variations can make designing a power amplifier module that meets a design specification more difficult.
Moreover, when implementing current multipliers in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology, yields can be relatively low. Low yields increase costs of manufacturing dies that include such current multipliers.